


do i wanna know?

by piebeards



Series: do i wanna know? [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-09-29
Packaged: 2018-02-17 22:51:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2326007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piebeards/pseuds/piebeards
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joel Heyman is the neurotic head detective of the Austin Police who is seemingly too good at solving cases and with the kind of observant power he has, has drawn the FBI down to the Texas heat to see just how he does it. Soon Joel is confronted with a new case that seems just too close to home and is forced to ask himself if he really knows who anyone is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the roses really smell like dead bodies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After solving a double homicide in less than ten days, the city of Austin is under the eye of special agent Ryan Haywood who decides he wants to meet Joel to see exactly how he solves cases so well. All the while, Joel and Ray have decided to lock themselves in their loft for a weekend with each other leaving the FBI out and maybe getting a pet. Soon enough the weekend is ruined by another dead body, but isn't it always?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is, the real first chapter of my first real rt/ah fic and oh my god I hope it's good.  
> Chapter title sort of taken from an Outkast song.

 

Adam and Joel sat together in their office, writing the last of the paperwork for the case they just wrapped up. The only sound that was around was a clock ticking on the wall and the steady drag of pens across paper, the part of the case that the detectives hated the most. Joel had been partners with Adam for close to three years now, the longest he’d been partnered with anyone at work. Minus of course Chief Burns and Sheriff Hullum who joined around the same time Joel did after spending years in college together planning it out. Joel was the head detective but he refused to have any title around the station, not wanting any extra attention from anyone other than his team. Adam on the other hand had only been on the force for six months before Joel brought him over to join him as an experimental partner and it ended up working in the favor of both. Finally Adam finished his paperwork, stretching in his seat and checking the time. It was four on a Friday and he was more than ready to leave work eager for a weekend off, glancing at Joel. Joel had spaced out about halfway through his paperwork, doodling on the margin of the paper a little rose and a dog. Adam rolled his eyes, clearing his throat and raising an eyebrow at his partner. 

“So what’d the dog do with the case?” He asked, crossing his arms. Joel looked at Adam; his eyes squinted at him as he pursed his lips. 

“I’m thinking about getting a dog.” He finally said, putting his pen down and closing the folder his paper was in, putting it under Adam’s. Adam looked at the folders, putting them both in the bin labeled ‘SOLVED’ in red letters before looking at the older man. 

“What kind of dog?” He asked, clearing off his desk. Joel shrugged his attention on packing up his stuff, “Haven’t decided yet, I wanna ask Ray first.” Adam chuckled, standing up and getting his bag from the coat rack behind him.  
“Good plan. You ready to blow this place?” He asked, slinging the strap of his bag on his shoulder and looking at Joel who was still sitting down. The head detective nodded, zipping up his bag, his brain still wondering off on the dog idea and with the last of the case.

 

Chief Burnie Burns was sitting in his office, reviewing the double homicide case his detectives had solved in less than ten days, his eyebrows drawn down as he read and reread all of the evidence. He’d known Joel for a long time, they’d worked together, went to school together and even briefly lived together but even after all the time he never fully understood Joel’s brain. It was always twenty steps in front of everyone else’s and that worked very well for the crime in the city of Austin, who was experiencing a high percentage of completion in their cases for the first time in twenty years. He had called in his ears in the department and apprentice detective, Blaine who was telling him what he knew about the case. The two were closed up in the chief’s office, talking about how Joel could have known so early while Adam and Joel left work for the weekend ahead ready to take time to relax.

As soon as the detectives had walked out of the door they ran into Sheriff Hullum who congratulated them on a case well done and offered to buy them drinks soon, wanting to hear how they did it. Adam nodded, always up for free alcohol and Joel nodded absentmindedly brain still occupied. The two got into Adam’s car, headed for the loft Joel and Ray shared talking more about dogs. Adam suggested a smaller dog since they didn’t have a yard for the dog but Joel didn’t want something that would yap around the house all day when he and Ray weren’t there. They kept up for the fifteen minutes it took to get them to the loft, vaguely suggesting certain breeds. 

Joel decided by the time they’d gotten there that he would have to ask Ray before he got too stuck in the idea, mumbling vaguely “Maybe we should just get a cat. That’s easier.” Adam just laughed and shook his head, “I’ll see you on Monday.” Joel walked up to the elevator, pressing the up button and reading the stocks on his phone while he waited before the familiar ding of the elevator arrived.

 

When Joel got to the loft Ray was already inside, having finished a big game his boss gave his team a three day weekend to settle before they started the next one. He was asleep on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table and wearing one of Joel’s oversized hoodies. Joel chuckled, putting his stuff down and sitting next to his boyfriend snaking his arms around him softly. Ray cracked an eye open and smiled lazily, rolling into Joel’s side. “Hi.” He mumbled, yawning and burying his head into Joel’s shoulder. The older man smiled and kissed his forehead, rubbing his back. 

“So I was thinking that we take a little vacation this weekend. Go up to the arboretum, maybe grab some dinner and shut ourselves up here so no one can bother us till Monday.” He said softly, his face against Ray’s soft hair and his hand still moving slowly against his back. Ray nodded, yawning again and wrapping his arms to hug his boyfriend. “I wanna see the roses.” He smiled, lifting his head up to look at Joel’s face knowing he’d have a dumb smile already on there since that’s what Ray always wanted to see at the arboretum.

 

After a few more minutes of sitting together on the couch, the duo got up to change so they could get to the garden before it closed. Joel was waiting at the door, twirling his key ring around his finger and thinking about his pet idea before Ray jumped in front of him. 

“Ready?” Joel asked, smiling at his overly eager boyfriend who after his nap was full of energy. The younger one nodded, grabbing Joel’s hand and smiling wide. They rode the elevator in silence, making faces at each other in the reflection of the elevator doors and giggling like teenagers. Joel opened the car door for Ray, lightly bowing his head in a teasing way. Ray tapped him in the chest and smiled, kissing his nose. 

“Thanks asshole.” Joel laughed, walking over to the driver’s side and starting it up.

The whole thirty minute drive to the arboretum was full of Ray picking out songs for the two to sing to that Ray belted his heart into, making Joel laugh until tears were in his eyes. No matter what Ray sang, he always put too much pitch in it and it was his guarantee to make Joel laugh. Once they got there, Ray quieted down into the last note of ‘Rolling in the Deep’ and lifted his hand eyes closed waiting for applause from the audience. Joel just laughed again, clapping a few times to appease him and getting out of the car. Ray was out after him, nodding and meeting Joel at the front of the car. 

“I’m pretty sure that was my best performance yet. I’m very sure I’m the next American Idol.” Joel’s smile had stuck on his face, shaking his head and kissing Ray’s temple. 

“Keep dreaming buttercup. Maybe one day, after lots and lots of practice. Maybe some lessons.” He chuckled, leading Ray to the bluebonnets. He liked the bluebonnets the most; they were what he remembered the most about every memory from his life in Texas. There were always bluebonnets sitting in the sunshine, dancing in the wind and the sweet perfume that would stick to his skin. He smiled as they walked through, taking a deep breath and embracing the familiarity. Ray set his head on Joel’s shoulder as they walked through bluebonnets and the pecan trees, taking random paths saving Ray’s favorite for last.

Once they’d tried a few different berries they ended up at the rose family, Ray smiling and smelling the different scents. He saw all different colors looking back, shades of pink and shades of yellow which were his favorite roses. Joel watched as Ray ghosted his fingers over petals, watching the flowers sway with the light breeze of fall. After Ray had seen his hearts full of flowers, making him smell like a meadow the two headed back to the car, “So how would you feel about getting a pet?” Joel asked, opening the door for Ray again. Ray looked up, wonder in his eyes and what Joel would call a sparkle of excitement.

“You really want to?” Joel smiled at the Puerto Rican, chuckling and nodding. 

“Yeah I was thinking maybe a dog or a cat whichever you’d prefer just nothing yappy, please.” He said before going to the driver’s side. Ray had wanted a pet for a while but had forgotten to ask before his head was full of work, excited at the prospect. 

“I want a dog.” Ray smiled, looking at Joel and grabbing his hand. “Can we go to the shelter and get one now?” He asked eagerly, smiling wide and biting his bottom lip gently. 

Joel looked into his eyes and knew he could never say no to him, smiling back before nodding. Ray would have leaped in the air if he wasn’t already sitting, jumping around the best he could and starting to sing again. Joel chuckled, starting the car and heading toward the shelter listening to Ray sing along to an Outkast song he’d put on. Ray was almost too excited, belting out ‘Roses’ and dancing along, seeing Joel start to be his backup singer giggling to himself. By the end of the song they were both doing the same dance and singing along, pulling into the parking lot before bursting into laughter. They stayed there laughing, tears in their eyes and shaking their heads. 

“You’re a bad influence on me, y’know.” Joel said, finally catching his breath and smiling as he looked at the younger man who shrugged smiling back before planting a long kiss on Joel’s lips taking his breath away again. 

“Love you.” Ray said softly as he pulled away, looking into the older man’s eyes and watching him smile. 

“I love you too. Now let’s go get a dog.” He replied, kissing him again softly before pulling himself out of the car.

When they walked in they were greeted by a friendly teenager who was very excited to show them the dogs, walking and talking at top speed. Ray was smiling the whole time, waving at dogs they passed with wide eyes. Joel was barely listening to the girl as he watched Ray light up around all the dogs, smiling and squeezing his hand. Ray stopped almost abruptly in front of a black lab that was sitting and wagging his tail across the ground, smiling as wide as his face would let him.

“I want him.” He announced, the girl smiling and nodding. 

“That’s Donut. He’s a really sweet dog.” She said, looking at the dog whose ears perked up at his name and he stood up. 

Joel nodded at her, “He’s perfect.” He replied as he watched Ray pet Donut through the opening, the dog licking Ray’s hand. She opened up the door, letting Donut out onto a leash and handing him to Ray, smiling the same big smile she had at the door. 

She and Joel left to settle the paperwork leaving Ray with Donut who was covering Ray’s face in kisses that made him giggle, “Donut definitely fits you.” He said, scratching him behind the ears and kissing his nose.

“Let’s go find Joel and we’ll go shopping for you, make you look good so the other dogs get jealous of how cool you are.” Ray smiled, walking the very eager Donut to the door he’d seen Joel go into. Joel was filling out some papers when he walked in, Donut sitting between them. 

“He seems really well trained already.” Ray pointed out to the girl at the desk, “What happened to his other owner?” 

The girl pet the top of his head, “They moved and left him so someone called us to pick him up. He’s probably one of the most obedient dogs we’ve had here.” She replied, taking the paperwork Joel finished and filing it away. 

“Alright well it looks like you three are set. I’m glad Donut could find you guys, I can already tell he loves you two.” She smiled, shaking hands with them and waving at Donut. They headed outside, Donut trotting beside Ray and looking at the two.

 

“I can’t believe we have a dog.” Ray said, Donut sitting in the backseat with his head out the window. Joel smiled as they drove to the pet store, looking at Donut and then Ray. 

“He’s definitely ours.” He chuckled as the dog drooled out the window and let his tongue flop in the wind. When they pulled into the pet store, the three piled out and Donut’s tail was wagging at a crazy speed excited to be out. Ray and Donut rushed ahead of Joel, going to pick out a new collar and leash for him.

Joel texted Adam

**Guess what.**  
 _You created nuclear energy while eating a sandwich?_  
 **No, guess realistically.**  
 _You and Ray got a dog. Named Donut._  
 **Wait, how did you know?**  
 _He sent me a picture of him and the dog, lab is a good choice. Also Donut?_  
 **That’s what his name was at the shelter, fits him pretty well. But dammit he ruined my surprise.**  
 _You’ll never be able to surprise me; you’re bad at hiding stuff._

Joel looked up from his texts and saw Ray picked out a pink collar for Donut, shaking his head with a chuckle. 

“You’re getting him pink?” Ray nodded, smiling. 

“He picked it out, besides its lightish red.” Joel just smiled, walking with them to get the rest of the stuff before they headed home.

They set up the bed, bowls and toys they’d gotten Donut. 

They fed him before sitting on the couch together, “With all this excitement we forgot about our dinner.” Joel pointed out, his stomach making a rumbling. Ray rubbed Joel’s stomach, leaning against him. 

“Wanna order pizza and watch movies?” Joel nodded, getting out his phone. He called the pizza place around the corner while Ray went to change into his pajamas and to sit next to Donut who was chewing on a rope they’d gotten him. Joel thanked the guy on the phone before hanging up and going to change into his own pajamas. Ray was already back on the couch with one of Joel’s hoodies on and a stack of DVDs waiting for them. Ray smiled, patting the spot next to him and hitting play on the remote. Donut walked to the living room and laid in front of the couch, already falling asleep. Ten minutes later, the buzzer for the door went off and Joel met the delivery guy at the door tipping him a few dollars before thanking him and shutting the door. He put the food on the coffee table and settled back next to Ray, the younger man grabbing them each a slice. An hour later, they’d eaten half the pizza and we’re almost done with Scott Pilgrim vs the World wrapped up in a blanket lying next to each other.

 

A few hours later Joel was woken up by his phone going off, it was Blaine’s ringtone and as soon as he’d opened his eyes he knew there was a new case. Ray stirred, trying to bury himself into Joel’s chest and block out the noise. Joel sighed, grabbing his phone off the table and answering it groggily.

“Hello?” He mumbled, his arm still wrapped around Ray. 

“Hey it’s Blaine. We’ve got a body, doesn’t look good.” Joel sighed again, rubbing his eyes and squinting at the time. It was 3am on a Saturday; all he wanted to do was enjoy his weekend off. 

“Alright, did you call Adam?” He asked, lightly kissing the top of Ray’s head. 

“Yeah I called him first. Told me he’d pick you up in twenty. I also have some other news.” Blaine said the ambient sounds of a siren in the background.

“I’m going to assume its bad news.” Joel mumbled, sitting up with Ray still against his chest. 

“Well Chief has been trying to get up with you to tell you the FBI is in town to meet the guy who solved a double homicide in eight days flat. Now they’re going to get involved to see firsthand and to provide as much help as they can.” Joel groaned, putting his face in Ray’s neck and closing his eyes. 

“I’ll see you soon.” He said, hanging up and pulling his head back. Ray was half awake, looking up at him and yawning. 

“You gotta go to work?” He whispered. Joel nodded, frowning and kissing Ray softly. 

“I’m sorry. I really wanted to spend the weekend here with you.” He replied, kissing him again and running a hand through the mess of hair on his head. 

Ray smiled back sleepily and shook his head, “It’s okay. Duty calls and besides, I have Donut.” He said softly, his fingers tracing Joel’s jaw. 

“You gotta get ready.” Joel nodded, looking into Ray’s eyes. Even with the only light being from the dim glow of the TV, Joel could see every feature of Ray’s face and he kissed him again before carrying Ray off to bed. Donut had perked up when the phone rang, watching the two before following Joel into the bedroom where his own pet bed was.

Joel laid Ray into bed and tucked him in before jumping in the shower to try to wake himself up. While he showered his head swam with all of the reasons the FBI was here no matter what Blaine said there had to be another reason, about having yet another case and having to cancel the weekend he wanted to spend with his boyfriend locked away in his loft. He finally finished in the shower and tied his towel around his waist before going into the bedroom to get dressed. Ray was sitting up against the headboard, dozing off slightly with Donut lying next to him despite the fact he had his own bed. Joel smiled at them, grabbing his clothes and getting dressed in the bathroom. Once he was ready to go, he woke Ray up to make him go back to sleep and decided to let Donut lay on the bed. 

“Hey I’m leaving alright?” Joel whispered, hand on Ray’s as he got him to lie down. Ray nodded, leaning up and giving Joel a goodbye kiss. 

“Love you, be safe.” He mumbled, yawning and waving. Joel smiled, making sure he was covered up and waving back. 

“I always am. I love you too. I’ll be home for dinner and I’m gonna make this weekend up to you, promise.” He said as he left the bedroom, grabbing his house key and jacket before locking the door to catch the elevator.

Adam was already in his car, half asleep with his face buried in a coffee cup when Joel got downstairs. Joel climbed into the car and noticed his own coffee, thankful as always to have Adam as his partner. They sat silently for a few minutes, savoring the coffee before heading to the scene not saying anything verbally to each other out of exhaustion. When they got to the scene, Blaine was there on his third cup of coffee and talking to the officer about the perimeter. Adam and Joel nodded to him, Joel walking to the forensics team. 

Barbara spoke up first, “So I don’t know if this is necessarily a symbolic thing but the body is uh, covered in roses.” 

Joel furrowed his brows looking from her to the body laying four feet away from them that was in fact covered in roses, his eyes going slightly wide. Before he could actually say anything, a black car rolled up next to Adam’s and out came what he assumed was the team the FBI sent. In front of him was a man he’d gone to college with, Gus Sorola and on his left was a slightly above average height guy with floppy sand colored hair and an almost terrifying look on his face. Behind them were two girls, one with bright red hair and the other a blonde were talking to Blaine, jotting down notes.

Adam was beside Joel, “We better make it quick before they come over.” He whispered and Joel nodded, turning to face the victim. The yellow rose petals sent a cold feeling down Joel’s spine as he thought of Ray, shaking his head to lose the feeling before crouching down and closing his eyes, trying to get into the mindset. 

“This is going to be an interesting one.” Lindsay whispered to Jon who nodded, silently looking from the FBI to the rose petals littering the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh! Chapter one is over and wow yeah what a chapter. Hope you enjoyed!  
> If you have any questions or complaints shoot me a message at adamellis.co.vu  
> Thank you for reading, hats off to my always helpful assistants you know who you are.


	2. 99 bottles of beer on the wall, all fell down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a new body shows up Joel not only has to solve a murder but he has to avoid the FBI who are still snooping around and has to make sure he's home in time for dinner. Ray makes breakfast and plans a super secret surprise with the lads. And Adam is tasked with figuring out what the hell is going on in his partner's brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it is!! chapter two and hopefully i lived up to some expectations i already started with the first chapter.  
> enjoy!!

Adam was standing behind Joel, notepad in his hand as he jot down a few things before clearing his throat and staring at his partner. Joel nodded and peeked behind him before looking back at the victim, “He looks to be around his mid-twenties, short black hair, and broken glasses. How long’s he been here?”

  
Adam turned to see Brandon to get the coroner’s opinion, “Around four hours. A bus boy from one of the restaurants found him while he was taking the trash out.” Joel nodded, eyes wandering around the body while his eyebrows furrowed. Something about this guy looked too much like Ray, it could have been his complexion or the floppy hair that looked just like his but it suddenly made Joel feel cold. He turned to Adam and took the last swig of his coffee.

  
“From what I see, the rose petals cover up the stab wounds that look like something but I can’t make it out here. He also looks like he might go to the college; we should check and see if he’s missing somewhere. Let’s go talk to the team.” Joel said, walking to the team of forensics specialists who were looking through their equipment.

  
The team looked at the detectives, Brandon still standing with the body and taking a few last notes. Jon adjusted his camera, walking back to the body to take more pictures of the scene while Barbara showed Joel some evidence she collected around the scene.

  
“It definitely wasn’t just a body dump. Someone took their time to make this scene look like this. There were petals around the body that led up to it almost like an invitation.” She said, showing Joel the petals that were around that were yellow but had a tinge of blood on most of them.

  
Lindsay interrupted before his brain took off, “The victim had no id on him, no wallet at all actually. There were a lot of tire tracks and shoe prints around but they’re probably all from the places around here so it might not mean much but I’ll keep you in the loop.”

  
Joel nodded, walking back to the body while Adam stayed to check out a few more things and to keep an eye on the FBI team talking to Blaine. Brandon stood back as Jon took more pictures, getting his stretcher and body bag ready. “The petals that are still here have to come with the body, they’re stuck.” He mentioned to Jon as he got closer shots of the wounds and the scientist nodded, standing up.

  
Joel’s eyes were on the body, the clothes looked all wrong. They were too small compared to his size, some of the holes in the t-shirt didn’t line up with stab wounds there were even extra ones. His shoes weren’t tied and he wasn’t wearing socks from what he could tell, everything seemed off to him. He watched as Brandon and his assistant Chris loaded the body up, zipping up the bag before pushing the stretcher up the ramp to the back of the truck. The detective looked at where the body had been, calling over his partner. Adam walked over, notepad still in hand as he looked at his partner.

  
“Is that a note?” Joel asked pointing to writing that looked like it’d been done in chalk under the body. Adam furrowed his brows, calling the team over to take pictures and to collect samples.

  
“It looks like a drawing; maybe the murderer is really into symbolism. English must have been their favorite class.” Barbara mentioned, scraping some chalk off the ground after Jon snapped some pictures.

  
After another twenty minutes of Joel mumbling to Adam and avoiding the FBI when they tried to talk to them, the detectives loaded up into Adam’s car to go research at the station. They rode in mostly silence, NPR on the radio as they drove. Joel was listening to the stock break, trying not to think about how eerily similar the victim was to Ray and nodding as he heard gold was going up. Adam glanced over and saw the older man had a grimace on his face, “Are you alright?”

  
Joel popped his head up, looking at Adam and nodding too quickly. “Yeah, yeah just stocks.” He mumbled, looking back at the radio.

  
Adam knew he was lying; Joel was a good liar to other people but not to him. He knew how Joel’s brain worked, at least some of the time and decided he’d probe more when they got back to the station. The rest of the ride was quiet, Adam glancing at Joel every so often out of the corner of his eye. Joel kept thinking about the clothes and all of the things didn’t line up so far, almost like whoever put him there did it on purpose.

  
Once they got to the station the two ran into Sheriff Hullum again who was coming in, nodding at the two knowing it was too early for small talk and holding the door open. Adam nodded back and followed Joel inside, walking into their office to find a surprise on their desks.

  
There were two bags, two little boxes and two big steaming cups of coffee with a note attached to Joel’s.

  
_‘Hope this helps the day go by a little faster. <3 Ray’_

  
Adam smiled and looked to see Joel was smiling too, the two touching coffee cups, “Thank you Ray.” They chimed together, sitting down and starting their breakfast before a day of research.

  
Ray woke up about an hour and a half after Joel left for work, Donut’s face in his and the sun barely peeking out of the curtains. As soon as Donut knew Ray was awake he licked his face, jumping off the bed and doing loops around the house. Ray chuckled, rubbing his face and sliding out of bed trying to find his glasses. Once Ray was up, Donut was sitting in front of him obviously eager to be taken outside. Ray called the bakery down the street from the station, leashing Donut up and walking to grab some clothes. He ordered breakfast for Adam and Joel knowing they’d be too busy to eat otherwise, thanking the woman and telling her he’d be there soon to pick it up. He threw on his jeans and one of Joel’s hoodies, grabbing his wallet before meeting Donut at the door. He walked to the elevator with him, petting him while they waited and pulling out his phone again. He checked the time and knew that Michael would probably be up soon, getting on the elevator with the dog. Once they finally got downstairs, he called his best friend walking down to the bakery with a cheerful Donut beside him.

  
“How did you know I was going to be awake?” Michael mumbled, very obviously sleep deprived. Ray let out a laugh, pausing while Donut sniffed around.

  
“Good morning to you too sunshine, I was wondering if you had any hot plans today.” He responded, continuing his walk to the bakery and starting to catch a whiff of the sweets down the street.

  
“Not for you, Ray of sunshine. What kind of shit are we gonna get into? And should I bring Gavino with me?” Michael asked, yawning and walking around his apartment trying not wake up Gavin who was asleep on the couch after their marathon of Indiana Jones sleepover.

  
Ray smiled; looking around to make sure no one was listening even though no one was around or would know what he was talking about. “How would you feel about helping me plan a surprise?”

  
The two arranged to meet up at Ray’s place in about an hour, enough time for him to deliver his surprise breakfast to the station, get home and shower before making breakfast for his group to plot over. He picked up his order, thanking the baker and asking for a scrap piece of paper that he could sneak a note on. She smiled, handing him a piece of paper and a pen, petting Donut before sneaking him a treat for being so nice. Ray smiled and thanked the woman again before heading out, arm full of warm breakfast.

  
The two arrived to the station, walking right inside and heading to the office Joel and Adam shared. Miles waved at Ray from his desk, smiling eagerly and pointing at Donut. “You guys got a dog?!” Ray laughed and nodded, Miles rushing over to pet Donut. He left the dog with the officer to drop off breakfast, paper clipping his note to Joel’s bag before going back out to meet Miles and Donut who were already thick as thieves.

  
Ray thanked Miles for watching him and promised to invite the gang over soon so he can hang out with Donut again, heading back home at a quicker pace so he had some extra time to cook by the time he got home. Before he knew it, Donut and he were back up to the loft. He let Donut run free, walking straight to his water bowl and then going to play with his ball. Ray jumped in the shower, speeding through before throwing a pair of sweatpants and the same Joel hoodie from earlier on before heading to the kitchen. As soon as he was in, Donut was at his side knowing food was involved.

  
In twenty minutes, Ray had made a big plate of pancakes and Donut had flour all over his head from bumping into Ray a hundred times. The Puerto Rican put one of the pancakes in Donut’s bowl and cleaned up the baking mess before a massive ring of knocks came signaling the lads were there. Ray walked to the door, letting in Michael, Gavin and a fresh off the scene Lindsay who hugged Ray once she was in. He handed her a cup of coffee that he knew she’d need and she nodded back in thanks, sitting in the kitchen with the boys who were already making plates to chow down.

  
The first fifteen minutes no conversation came from anyone in the room, only clicks of forks and cups from the breakfast Ray had prepared for them. Finally everyone sat back, sipping on their drinks and looking at each other.

  
“So Ray, what is this surprise we’re planning?” Michael asked, looking at the Puerto Rican with an eyebrow raised.

  
Ray smiled, taking a sip of his orange juice and looking between his friends. He’d been thinking about this surprise for a while, hoping his friends would help him and be excited.

  
“I think I’m gonna propose to Joel.” He finally said out loud, looking to see their reactions. For about ten seconds, everyone had their same plain expression before all of them lit up in excitement and Gavin threw his hands in the air.

  
“Yay!! J-Roll and X-Ray!” Gavin screeched, jumping up and running to give Ray a hug. Ray laughed against his friend, mentally sighing in relief that his friends actually approved of his surprise.

  
After Gavin had screeched random noises and squeezed all the air out of Ray, the rest of the group congratulated him. Michael leaning across the table and looking him square in the face, “We’re gonna give him the best surprise ever.”

  
The four of them moved the dishes off and got out a bunch of paper and pens so they could brainstorm another pot of coffee brewing.  
“What if you take him to his favorite place?” Lindsay asked, knowing Joel wasn’t always into flashy stuff like his title at work. Ray shrugged, chewing on the string of his boyfriend’s hoodie and tapping his pen against the table.

  
“I think it should have dancers and fireworks!” Gavin announced, coffee making him jittery with excitement. The other three looked at him with the same expression that could only be read as a ‘what the fuck Gavin’ face that they were very used to looking at him with.

  
Another round of coffee went to everyone but Gavin, Lindsay checking the time before announcing she had to be back at work to help with the case. “If I think of any good stuff I’ll text you. Also should we get Adam involved?” She asked Ray as the two headed for the door.

  
Ray nodded, shrugging. “He’d probably have some good ideas but you have to make sure that Joel doesn’t find out. I want this to be something we’ll talk about for a long time.” He mumbled the last part to only her, not wanting the lads to rag on him for his cheesy romantic side. She smiled at him and nodded, giving him a hug.

  
“Your secret is safe with me. Thank you for breakfast and keeping those cheeseballs here entertained. I’ll talk to Adam about it when I get to work; I know he’ll keep it secret.” She said as she walked toward the elevator and waved.

  
Ray waved good bye and closed the door, returning to the dining room table where the lads had drawn and written on at least ten pieces of paper with ideas. They were bickering about how over the top it should be, Michael knowing how both Ray and Joel were more subtle about their relationship. Even knowing this Gavin was convinced that every proposal needed fireworks or some kind of bright explosion to make it more memorable while Michael continued to tell him he was a moron.

  
“But Micooooooo!” Gavin whined, hands slapping against the table, “This has to be the best proposal ever! It has to have people talking about it forever!”  
Ray laughed at them, Michael rolling his eyes at the Brit and looking back up at the Puerto Rican.

  
“I know that you really like the arboretum, what about asking him there?” He announced after Gavin finally stopped faffing about to drink some more coffee. Ray pursed his lips, it seemed like the best idea he’d heard so far especially since they’d spent so many other memorable moments there and nodded.

  
“I actually like that.” He announced, grabbing his laptop and sitting between his best friends pulling up websites for arboretums and other gardens around town.  
Joel and Adam had researched for a few hours before deciding to head down to forensics hoping to bypass the FBI team they knew were lurking around.  
“Let’s see if Brandon and Chris have anything.” Joel said, peeping out of the blinds from their office to see if the coast was clear.

  
Adam got up, grabbing his notepad and following Joel out of the office. The two shared what they’d been spending the past few hours researching deciding that there hadn’t been any murders in state that fit the roses or any of the other symbolism and that there hasn’t been any missing persons descriptions that fit the victim.

  
“In three hours we managed to find out a whole lot of nothing.” Adam announced to his partner, opening the door to the coroner’s office for him. Joel shrugged and nodded, “I guess not. Hopefully the team has a name for us maybe make it a little easier.”

  
The two detectives walked in and found the coroners carefully removing the last few rose petals from the body, Jon taking pictures of them before they placed them in an evidence bag. Joel watched each petal that was probably yellow when they started but were now a crimson color with a fading light yellow outline across.

“So have we figured out who he is yet?” Adam asked once they were done, nodding at Jon who was looking up at the detectives.  
Brandon looked at them and nodded, “His name’s Kyle Taylor. He’s in the UT database, didn’t get reported missing but he also hasn’t been dead for 24 hours yet. I’d say the time of death was probably around 11:30pm last night. He also seems to look a little different than the picture UT has on file but it could be an old picture. I know that his clothes were definitely not the right size.” The coroner looked at the bag his assistant was labeling for the forensics tech and looking back at the detectives.

  
Adam nodded, looking at his partner who was staring down at the boy lying on the table. He didn’t look anything like Ray now, his complexion was lighter and he seemed more muscular. He was probably a little older than his boyfriend but it still made him think about Ray and he still got a weird shiver down his spine that made him look to see everyone looking at him for a response.

  
“Adam and I are gonna see Barb and Lindsay, see if they found anything major then we’ll go out to UT. Try and find out who knows Kyle, try to piece together some stuff.” He mumbled out, nodding at his colleagues before turning to leave with Adam following behind.

  
Adam knew that something was up with his partner and once they were out of earshot grabbed onto Joel’s shoulder to make him stop, “Joel what’s wrong?” He asked, looking him square in the face.

  
Joel knew that he couldn’t lie to Adam, he was the only other person other than Ray who could tell when he was lying and he never got away with it. He sighed, leaving eye contact with his much larger partner and shrugged. “It’s just my brain. I keep putting Ray in there instead of that kid. He looked like him when we found him, the roses; all of it just seems too much like Ray. And it’s sort of freaking me out.” He mumbled the last part, looking down at his shoes.

  
Adam sighed, putting an arm around Joel’s shoulders and walking them to the forensics lab, knowing there wasn’t a lot he could do to deter Joel away from imaging Ray. “Don’t worry alright? Ray’s good, we’ll figure this out and soon it’ll all be a solved case we won’t have to think about.”

  
Joel nodded and walked alongside his partner, eyes looking ahead of them. In his brain everything was in a line like a row of dominoes and they were all shaking, he was trying not to let them fall down and make him more worried. His thoughts were interrupted by Barbara and Lindsay who were singing “99 Bottles of Beer” in the lab when they got there, bringing him back to reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also super super suuuuper sorry I'm not posting this until now instead of Friday like I said. I was working this weekend and kind of procrastinated but this week I will be posting chapter three on Friday since I am off.  
> As always, feedback is lovely shoot me message on my blog or leave a comment
> 
> Thank you for reading I love youuuuuu

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first ever work in the fandom and I hope that it's not awful. Shout out to alcohol for the idea, to Vince for dealing with my constant questions and proofreading this, to the awesome nature of Joel and Adam for inspiring then finally to coffee for helping the bridge between ideas.


End file.
